and brought forth all the
treasure, while others busied themselves in preparing the funeral
pyre.

When all was ready and the huge pile of wood had been hung with
helmets, war-shields and bright coats of mail, as befitted the funeral
pyre of a noble warrior, the earls brought their beloved lord's body
to the spot and laid it on the wood. Then they kindled the fire and
stood by mourning and uttering sorrowful chants, while the smoke rose
up and the fire roared and the body was consumed away. Afterwards they
built a mound on the hill, making it high and broad so that it could
be seen from very far away. Ten days they spent in building it; and
because they desired to pay the highest of honors to Beowulf, they
buried in it the whole of the treasure that the dragon had guarded,
for no price was too heavy to pay as a token of their love for their
lord. So the treasure even now remains in the earth, as useless as it
was before.

When at last the mound was completed, the noble warriors gathered
together and rode around it, lamenting their king and singing the
praise of his valor and mighty deeds.

Thus mourned the people of the Geats for the fall of Beowulf, who of
all kings in the world was the mildest and kindest, the most gracious
to his people, and the most eager to win their praise.

THE GOOD KING ARTHUR

Probably every one knows the story of the great King Arthur who, the
legends say, ruled in Britain so many, many years ago and gathered
about him in his famous Round Table, knights of splendid courage,
tried and proven. So well loved was the story of Arthur in other
countries as well as in England that it was among the very first works
ever printed in Europe, and it was still welcomed centuries later when
the great English poet, Alfred Tennyson, told it in his _Idylls of the
King_.

The boy Arthur was really the son of King Uther Pendragon, but few
persons knew of his birth. Uther had given him into the care of the
enchanter Merlin, who had carried him to the castle of Sir Hector,[A]
an old friend of Uther's. Here the young prince lived as a child of
the house.

FOOTNOTE:

[A] This name is otherwise given as _Sir Ector_, and by Tennyson as
_Sir Anton_.

Now Merlin was a very wise man, and when King Uther died several years
later the noblemen asked his advice in choosing a new king.

"Gather together in St. Stephen's Church in London, on Christmas Day,"
was all the enchanter answered.

So the knig